Aerospace and space-based projects often require high reliability electronics. However, electronic components are trending toward lower voltage and semi-conductor dies that have a narrower pitch in order to meet space constraints and power consumption metrics that consumer electronics demand. In aerospace and space-based application, electronic components are susceptible to radiation from energetic particles that are not absorbed by earth's atmosphere. Problematically, the lower voltage and smaller semiconductor dies produced make it more likely that an energetic particle will interrupt an electronic device upon impact. This phenomenon may cause a single-event upset (“SEU”) or a single-event latchup that generates erroneous processing results. When a device memory is affected by radiation, it may be referred to as a “flipped bit.”
To mitigate the radiation environment that electronic components are placed in, some parts are radiation hardened by design (“RHBD”). This may include insulating the semiconductor die with a physical layer (e.g. lead) or designing the electronic component with technologies that are less likely to be affected by radiation. Yet, even with RHBD electronic components, memory upsets may still occur.
As an alternative or in addition to using RHBD components, some designers try to mitigate radiation-generated upsets by using system architectures that include redundancy or error-checking capability. However, current redundant systems may require additional electronic components that add cost, area, and weight to the system and error-checking schemes may also require additional electronic components to carry out the error-checking scheme.